MLB News

Saturday's best: Phillies trio fuels IronPigs victory

By
William BoorMLB.com

A trio of the Phillies' top prospects led the way as Triple-A Lehigh Valley topped Louisville, 13-1, on Saturday.

No. 4 overall prospect J.P Crawford (Phillies' No. 1) and Nick Williams (Phillies' No. 4) combined for five hits, two homers and six RBIs at the plate, while No. 24 prospect Ben Lively gave up one unearned run over eight innings on the mound.

A trio of the Phillies' top prospects led the way as Triple-A Lehigh Valley topped Louisville, 13-1, on Saturday.

No. 4 overall prospect J.P Crawford (Phillies' No. 1) and Nick Williams (Phillies' No. 4) combined for five hits, two homers and six RBIs at the plate, while No. 24 prospect Ben Lively gave up one unearned run over eight innings on the mound.

Williams has been on an incredible hot streak lately, and that continued as he collected a season-high four RBIs in a 3-for-5 performance.

The 23-year-old drove in two with a single in the fourth inning, one with a double in the seventh and then capped his day with a solo homer, his eighth, in the eighth. The big day also extended Williams' hitting streak to 10 games, during which he has homered six times, driven in 15 runs and is batting .385 (15-for-39).

As Williams looks to stay hot, Crawford is trying to head up. The No. 4 prospect in baseball is off to a slow start this season, hitting .191 through 44 games, but his 2-for-4 day included his second homer and marked his second consecutive two-hit game, following a four-game skid in which he went 0-for-16.

While Williams and Crawford were providing the offense, Lively held up his end of the bargain with eight strong innings. The right-hander threw 83 of his 114 pitches for strikes, fanning seven and walking two.

An unearned run in the eighth cost Lively his second consecutive scoreless start, but the right-hander still hasn't given up an earned run over his past 17 frames.

Other top prospect performances from Saturday's action:

• No. 36 overall prospect Francisco Mejia (Indians' No. 2) extended his hitting streak to seven games with a perfect 4-for-4 day for Double-A Akron. Mejia, who is hitting .500 (12-for-24) in the six games since he returned from the disabled list, also stole his first base of the season in the performance.

• No. 11 overall prospect Brendan Rodgers (Rockies' No. 1) continues to rake for Class A Advanced Lancaster and is now hitting .378 through 30 games after going 3-for-5 with a homer, two doubles and a pair of RBIs. Rodgers has three homers over his past two games and has multiple hits in four straight contests.

• No. 56 overall prospect Dominic Smith (Mets' No. 2) homered for the second time in as many night for Triple-A Las Vegas. Smith, who finished 2-for-4 with a home run and a double, also set a season high with four RBIs, but it wasn't enough as the 51s fell to El Paso.

• No. 62 overall prospect A.J. Puk (Athletics' No. 2) didn't command the ball the way he would have liked to, but he pitched around four walks to throw five scoreless innings. The lefty struck out eight and gave up one hit. Puk has walked eight over his past two starts but has also given up just one run on one hit in those 10 1/3 innings.

• Taylor Clarke (D-backs' No. 5) racked up a career-high 12 strikeouts in Double-A Jackson's win over Jacksonville. Clarke gave up one run on two hits over 5 1/3 innings and was in line for a tough loss, but the Generals came back and won, leaving Clarke with a no-decision. The 24-year-old has a 2.70 ERA through 10 starts and has given up one earned run or fewer in seven of those outings.

• Rowdy Tellez (Blue Jays' No. 5) left his mark all over Triple-A Buffalo's 12-7 win over Charlotte. Tellez posted season highs in hits and RBIs and went 4-for-4 with a double, a run scored and four RBIs. Tellez, 22, drove in a run with a single in the first inning, a double in the fifth and capped his day with a two-run single in the ninth.

• Shed Long (Reds' No. 10) bumped his home run total up to eight with the first two-homer game of his career. The 21-year-old hit two-run homers for Class A Advanced Daytona, going deep in both the third and fifth innings as he finished 3-for-4 and matched his career high with four RBIs.

• Reds No. 11 prospect Vladimir Gutierrez followed up his worst start of the season with his best. After getting crushed for nine earned runs in 3 1/3 innings in his last start, Gutierrez was lights out for Class A Advanced Daytona. The 21-year-old threw 6 1/3 scoreless frames, giving up just three hits and showing off impressive control, throwing 59 of his 86 pitches for strikes, walking none and striking out eight.

• Few people, if any, would classify Phillies No. 11 prospect Scott Kingery as a power hitter, but the second baseman just keeps hitting homers. Kingery hit his Minor League-leading 15th home run as part of a 2-for-3 day. The 23-year-old, who has back-to-back multi-hit games, has homered nine times in May after hitting just eight homers over his first two professional seasons.

• Taylor Hearn (Pirates' No. 11) bounced back from a rough outing with an absolute gem for Class A Advanced Bradenton. After only throwing one inning (two walks, three hits and four earned runs) in his last start, Hearn fired a career-high seven scoreless innings and surrendered just a trio of hits.

• Blue Jays No. 22 prospect Danny Jansen collected a trio of hits, bringing his average to an even .400 since he was promoted to Double-A New Hampshire. Jansen finished 3-for-4 with an RBI and has hits in seven of the eight games he's played since joining the Fisher Cats.

• Mariners No. 23 prospect Tyler Marlette came through with his first two-homer game of the season for Double-A Arkansas. Marlette hit a two-run homer in the first and followed it up with a solo shot in the fourth to finish 2-for-3 with three RBIs.

• Braves No. 24 prospect Bryse Wilson spun his third scoreless start of the season over a career-high six innings for Class A Rome. Wilson, who gave up five hits and struck out six, has a 1.90 ERA through 10 starts.

• Freicer Perez (Yankees' No. 26) has allowed just one run over his past 11 2/3 innings after throwing six scoreless frames for Class A Charleston. The 21-year-old struck out five and gave up four hits while throwing 53 of his 84 pitches for strikes.